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https://github.com/lmorg/mxtty

Multimedia Terminal Emulator: get more out of your command line!
https://github.com/lmorg/mxtty

bash fish gui linux macos multimedia murex shell terminal-emulator tui zsh

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Multimedia Terminal Emulator: get more out of your command line!

Awesome Lists containing this project

README 

        
mxtty



![logo](assets/icon-large.bmp)



- [Multimedia Terminal Emulator](#multimedia-terminal-emulator)

- [How It Works](#how-it-works)

- [Whats Left To Do](#whats-left-to-do)

  - [Escape Codes](#escape-codes)

    - [VT100](#vt100)

    - [VT52 mode](#vt52-mode)

    - [Tektronix 4014 mode](#tektronix-4014-mode)

    - [Window management codes](#window-management-codes)

    - [Extended features](#extended-features)

    - [Common application support](#common-application-support)

  - [Application Usability](#application-usability)

- [Supported Platforms](#supported-platforms)

- [Install Guide](#install-guide)

- [How To Support](#how-to-support)



## Multimedia Terminal Emulator



The aim of this project is to provide an easy to use terminal emulator that

supports inlining multimedia widgets using native code as opposed to web

technologies like Electron.



Currently the project is _very_ alpha.



The idea behind this terminal emulator is that is can be used by any $SHELL,

however hooks will be built into [Murex](https://github.com/lmorg/murex) so

the terminal will be instantly usable even before wider support across other

shells and command line applications is adopted.



At its heart, `mxtty` is a regular terminal emulator. Like Kitty, iTerm2, and

PuTTY (to name a few). But where `mxtty` differs is that it also supports

inlining rich content. Some terminal emulators support inlining images. Others

might also allow videos. But none bar some edge case Electron terminals offer

collapsible trees for JSON printouts. Easy to navigate directory views. Nor any

other interactive elements that we have come to expect on modern user

interfaces.



The few terminal emulators that do attempt to offer this usually fail to be

good, or even just compatible, with all the CLI tools that we've come to depend

on.



`mxtty` aims to do _both well_. Even if you never want for any interactive

widgets, `mxtty` will be a good terminal emulator. And for those who want a

little more GUI in their CLI, `mxtty` will be a great modern user interface.



## How It Works



`mxtty` uses SDL ([Simple DirectMedia Layer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_DirectMedia_Layer))

which is a simple hardware-assisted multimedia library. This enables the

terminal emulator to be both performant and also cross-platform. Essentially

providing some of the conveniences that people have come to love from tools

like Electron while still offering the benefits of native code.



The multimedia and interactive components will be passed from the controlling

terminal applications via ANSI escape sequences. Before groan, yes I agree that

in-band escape sequences are a lousy way of encoding meta-information. However

to succeed at being a good terminal emulator, it needs to support some historic

design decisions no matter how archaic they might seem today. This allows

`mxtty` to work with existing terminal applications _and_ for third parties to

easily add support for their applications to render rich content in `mxtty`

without breaking compatibility for legacy terminal emulators.



## Whats Left To Do



In short, _a lot_!! Some of what has been detailed above is still aspirational.

Some of it has already been delivered but in a _very_ alpha state. And while

there is lots of error handling and unit tests, test coverage is still pretty

low and exceptions will crash the terminal (quite deliberately, because I want

to see where the application fails).



Below is a high level TODO list of features and compatibility. If an item is

ticked but not working as expected, then please raise an issue in Github.



### Escape Codes



#### VT100



- C1 codes

  - [x] common: can run most CLI applications

  - [x] broad: can run older or more CLI applications

  - [ ] complete: xterm compatible

- CSI codes

  - [x] common: can run most CLI applications

  - [x] broad: can run older or more complicated CLI applications

  - [ ] complete: xterm compatible

- SGR codes

  - [x] common: can run most CLI applications

  - [x] broad: can run older or more complicated CLI applications

  - [ ] complete: xterm compatible

- OSC codes

  - [x] common: can run most CLI applications

  - [x] broad: can run older or more complicated CLI applications

  - [ ] complete: xterm compatible

- DCS codes

  - [ ] common: can run most CLI applications

  - [ ] broad: can run older or more complicated CLI applications

  - [ ] complete: xterm compatible

- PM codes (out of scope)

  - [x] common: can run most CLI applications

  - [x] broad: can run older or more complicated CLI applications

  - [x] xterm compatible

- [x] Alt character sets

- [ ] Wide characters

- Keyboard

  - [x] Ctrl modifiers

  - [ ] Alt modifiers

  - [ ] Shift modifiers

  - [ ] special keys (eg function keys, number pad, etc)

- Mouse tracking

  - [ ] common: can run most CLI applications

  - [ ] broad: can run older or more complicated CLI applications

  - [ ] complete: xterm compatible



#### VT52 mode



- [x] cursor movements

- [ ] special modes



#### Tektronix 4014 mode



- [ ] graphics plotting

- [ ] text rendering

  

#### Window management codes



eg `xterm` and similar terminal emulators



- [x] titlebar can be changed

- [ ] ~~window can be moved and resized (WILL NOT IMPLEMENT)~~

- [ ] window can be minimized and restored



#### Extended features



- [ ] Hyperlink support

- [ ] Bracketed paste mode

- Inlining images

  - [x] mxtty codes

  - [ ] iterm2 compatible

  - [ ] sixel graphics

  - [ ] ReGIS graphics

- Code folding

  - [ ] alpha: available but expect changes to the API

  - [ ] stable: available to use in Murex

- Table sorting

  - [x] alpha: available but expect changes to the API

  - [ ] stable: available to use in Murex



#### Common application support



- [ ] Supports `tmux`

  - [x] usable

  - [ ] glitch-free

- [ ] Supports `vim`

  - [x] usable

  - [ ] glitch-free

- [x] Supports `murex`

  - [x] usable

  - [x] glitch-free



### Application Usability



- [ ] Terminal can be resized

- [x] Scrollback history

  - [x] usability hints added

- [ ] discoverability hints added

- [ ] Typeface can be changed

- [ ] Colour scheme can be changed

- [ ] Bell can be changed

- [ ] Default term size can be changed

- [ ] Default command / shell can be changed



## Supported Platforms



Support for the following platforms is planned:



- [x] Linux

  - [x] tested on Arch

  - [ ] tested on Ubuntu

  - [ ] tested on Rocky

- [ ] BSD

  - [ ] tested on FreeBSD

  - [ ] tested on NetBSD

  - [ ] tested on OpenBSD

  - [ ] tested on DragonflyBSD

- [x] macOS

  - [ ] tested on 12.x, Monterey

  - [ ] tested on 13.x, Ventura

  - [x] tested on 14.x, Sonoma

  - [ ] tested on 15.x, Sequoia

- [ ] Windows

  - [ ] PTY support implemented

  - [ ] tested on Windows 10

  - [ ] tested on Windows 11



## Install Guide



Currently mxtty can only be compiled from source.



To do so you will need the following installed:

- C compiler (eg gnu c)

- Go compiler

- SDL libraries

  - sdl2

  - sdl2_ttf

  - sdl2_mixer

- `pkg-config`



Aside from that, it's as easy as running `go build .` from the git repository

root directory.



## How To Support



Regardless of your time and skill set, there are multiple ways you can support

this project:



- **Contributing code**: This could be bug fixes, new features, or even just

  correcting any typos.



- **Testing**: There is a plethora of different software that needs to run

  inside a terminal emulator and a multitude of distinct platforms that this

  could run on. Any support testing `mxtty` would be greatly appreciated.



- **Documentation**: This is possibly the hardest part of any project to get

  right. Eventually documentation for this will follow the same structure as

  [Murex Rocks](https://murex.rocks) (albeit its own website) however, for now,

  any documentation written in markdown is better than none.



- **Architecture discussions**: I'm always open to discussing code theory. And

  if it results in building a better terminal emulator, then that is a

  worthwhile discussion to have.



- **Porting escape codes to other applications**: Currently [Murex](https://github.com/lmorg/murex)

  is the pioneer for supporting `mxtty`-specific ANSI escape codes. However it

  would be good to see some of these extensions expanded out further. Maybe

  even to a point where this terminal emulator isn't required any more than a

  place to beta test future proposed escape sequences.